What one characteristic do you most often see in successful recruiters?

Tenacity? Genuine? Integrity? Sales focused? Process Oriented? Sourcing Ability? Others? If you had to rank them, and you were hiring a recruiter, which one would you look for in an individual before all others?

Replies to This Discussion

Integrity I think is one of them. Their are alot of ways you can slice that. Alot of individuals who I have talked to say the biggest knock they have on recruiters is them leading them on as if they are still in the running for a position that has been filled. One guy I talked to before said he was under the impression for a month that he was still in the running for a job that he found was filled by another candidate 3 weeks earlier. Each time he would call the recruiter who sent him on the interview back he would say they are still trying to schedule the next round of interviews but hey what do you think about doing something like this as if he was seeing his interest in other opportunities

No quit. I have interviewed, hired, and trained tons of recruiters. No Quit is one thing that they need to have. Who else has to hear no more, at more stages in the process and stick with it? My actual line was "I am looking for self motivated, free thinking, entrepreneurial, hard workers, who, with tact, never quit"...

Also, not afraid to talk to people directly and tell them what the real situation is, good or bad. Open to learning even after a long career. Positive, almost to a fault. Humble even when successful. Honest, with themselves especially. And better at listening than talking....anyone can talk. Not everyone can listen, and hear.

Tenacity is the first one that comes to mind. Also, able to separate business from personal. We get rejected so much, and our livelihoods / paychecks are affected by other people to such a degree that it's easy to be mad all the time and take it personally. Gotta let that stuff roll off.

Definitely agree with Amy - Tenacity is probably number one, and being able to handle rejection is another. In recruitment we are constantly rejected and need to learn to not let it affect your confidence...

In my opinion, one characteristic is hard, but if I had to say one above all else it would be Integrity. A recruiter is nothing without his integrity. I have been put in bad situations where my integrity was tested and I am proud to say I was willing to walk out the door before I did something immoral or against my beliefs. Some people get so wrapped up in money that they forget who they are as individuals. All of the others are excellent also. Thanks for the responses.

I really like Rebecca's #1 ADHD.... I'd say Empathy & what I mean by that is being able to read the candidate, identify what drives them & then curtail your approach to that individual person.....instead of looking at it as US (recruiter) vs. Them (candidate) - Listen, build trust & really understand their situation.....

The mark of a good IT recruiter is the personal touch. Successful IT Headhunters will spend time getting to know the job-hunter and their skills set. This means that the recruiter will know exactly how to sell you to the prospective employer and vice versa.

Integrity is first and foremost. Like all businesses, recruiting is based on trust. Without integrity, then trust cannot be fostered. Being process oriented comes second on my list. Tenacity coupled with the right processes will usually give good results. Sourcing abilities will naturally follow if you are tenacious and process oriented.